On an October Monday in 2024, 34-year-old Alyssa Lokits was using a
greenway in Antioch, Tennessee when she was shot and killed. One
witness
reports
that he heard a woman crying out for help as he told his story to a new
station he stated that “she said, ‘Help, I’m being raped, I’m being
raped,’ and then the shots were instantaneous.”
News reports do not indicate if Ms. Lokits had any weapon with her at
the time of her alleged rape and murder. That may have been her choice
or it may have been the requirement of a law preserved and exacerbated
by Tennessee’s Republican controlled Legislature.
Tennessee law prohibits the possession of weapons in public parks
which likely includes greenways such as the one where Ms. Lokits was
victimized by rape and murder. Tennessee Code Annotated § 39-17-1311.
The statute specifically states that it is an offense “to possess or
carry, whether openly or concealed, with the intent to go armed, any
weapon prohibited by § 39-17-1302(a).” Traditional firearms like
handguns, rifle and shotguns are not listed in Tennessee Code Annotated §
39-17-1302(a). Nevertheless, the Tennessee Attorney General has
interpreted the statute to, in that office’s opinion, include a
prohibition on firearms such as handguns. See, Tennessee Attorney
General Opinion
18-04.
Many citizens have been indoctrinated to believe that they should not
and that they cannot have a firearm for self-defense in public parks,
forests, campgrounds and/or greenways. Tennessee Firearms Association
has made many efforts to change this law, but the Legislature has
refused (particularly under Republican super-majority control) to do so.
TFA was successful in 2009 to get this law amended to allow those
individuals who had a Tennessee handgun permit to be able to possess
both the handgun and their permit in some, but not all of the prohibited
places. See, 2009 Tennessee Laws Pub. Ch. 428 (H.B. 716) as amending
Tennessee Code Annotated § 39-17-1311(b)(1)(H). However, the
Legislature put a “felony trap” into even that exception when it added a
qualification that if the park/greenway is “in use by any board of
education, school, college or university board of trustees, regents, or
directors for the administration of any public or private educational
institution for the purpose of conducting an athletic event or other
school-related activity on an athletic field, permanent or temporary,
including but not limited to, a football or soccer field, tennis court,
basketball court, track, running trail, Frisbee field, or similar
multi-use field” and one or more students are physically present.
But that exception only applies to Tennesseans with handgun permits.
In 2022, Governor Bill Lee announced that at his request the
Tennessee Legislature had enacted a law that the Governor and many
legislators have mischaracterized as “constitutional carry.” Tennessee
Code Annotated § 39-17-1307(g). That Legislation was sponsored in the
Senate by Republican Jack Johnson and in the House by Representative
William Lamberth. Of course, it is not
constitutional carry
which is a statutory scheme where carrying a handgun or other firearm
for a lawful purpose is not a crime. In Tennessee, anytime someone
carries any firearm “with the intent to go armed”, they commit a crime.
Tennessee Code Annotated § 39-17-1307(a). The law that some have
falsely and deceptively claimed to be constitutional carry is nothing
more than a defense to a criminal charge of carrying a firearm with the
intent to go armed and the burden is on the individual to demonstrate
all the elements of that defense if they are stopped by an officer, or
arrested, or prosecuted for such crime.
The rape and murder of Ms. Lokits on a greenway raises the question
of could she have legally been armed with a firearm if she did not have a
Tennessee handgun permit. The answer is no. Although that issue was
known to exist and even raised in 2022 when Senator Johnson and Rep.
Lamberth were sponsoring the Governor’s mislabeled “constitutional
carry” legislation, neither of the sponsors included in the legislation
or in any amendment to what is nothing more than an affirmative defense
to the “permitless carry” of a firearm with the intent to go armed any
provision that would allow those individuals who elect to rely on that
law to engage in “permitless carry” to be able to do so in any park,
greenway, forest, or other area that is made a “gun free” zone by state
law.
This was not a mere oversight. This was an intentional choice by the
Governor and the bill’s sponsors (Sen. Johnson and Rep. Lamberth) to
make it a crime for those who thought that they could carry a handgun
without a permit to do so in a public park or greenway. The question
many should be asking after so many assaults and murders of citizens who
chose merely to use the State’s public resources is why did the
Governor and these Republican Legislative sponsors knowingly disarm
those without handgun permits and put them at risk of the predators,
human and wildlife, in these areas?
1) Contact your
legislators and demand to know a) where they are on this issue and b)
what they plan to do in 2025 to address it. If you are fortunate enough
to get answers, please forward their responses to Tennessee Firearms
Association.
2) Contact the sponsors of the 2022 "permitless carry" law -
Sen. Jack Johnson and
Rep. William Lamberth - and, if you are able to reach them, ask them why they intentionally created this trap and risk for Tennesseans who that that the Legislature had actually enacted constitutional carry in 2022. Ask them what they are going to do in 2025 to fix this real and present danger to Tennesseans who simply want to be able to defend themselves while enjoying public parks and resources.
3) Share this information on social media, with friends and family. It is imperative that unconstitutional laws like this one be fixed and that others which create 2nd Amendment restrictions be repealed.